UPDATE 2 (10/8/15) – This morning I noticed that now two-thirds of endorsements on the GFA website are now missing. Prior to the GFA’s loss of ECFA membership, there were 18 endorsers on the GFA endorsements page. Now there are six: Patrick Johnstone, George Verwer, Luis Bush, Dan Wooding, Suellen Roberts and Frank Wright.
Now missing are Francis Chan, Ray Comfort, Emeal Zwayne, William Blount, Katey Hearth, Karol Ladd, Sharon Geiger, Jeff Lutes, Ashley Elliot, Barbara Dowling, Terry Powell, and Megan Basham.
Only Ray Comfort and Emeal Zwayne have issued any kind of statement.
UPDATE: I just received this from Daniel at Living Waters: “Yes, at this time Living Waters has temporarily pulled its endorsement of GFA, while awaiting further information.”
I also see that another name has been pulled from the list: William Blount
Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing.
It remains up here.
………………..
More big names are missing from the Gospel for Asia endorsements page. Just recently, Ray Comfort and Emeal Zwayne, both affiliated with Living Waters, were featured endorsers of Gospel for Asia. Now their names and endorsements are gone.
If you check out the endorsement page now, those names aren’t listed. I wrote Living Waters for confirmation and will add any communication I receive.
I am not sure why someone would pull an endorsement but stay silent about it. Apparently, Francis Chan is taking this approach. Some of his endorsements are missing from the GFA website but he has declined to reply to multiple requests for comment on his position.
UPDATE: David Cooke, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Riverhead, NY has been pulled from the list of pastor endorsers (see Google cache).
Tag: Francis Chan
Has Francis Chan Dropped His Endorsement of Gospel for Asia?
Francis Chan once was here but now is not.
Yesterday, he was there:
Today, he isn’t:
He is also missing from this page as of this morning.
Chan’s recommendation is elsewhere on the GFA website, hence the question (Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing. It remains up here.). I have reached out to Chan on many occasions, including yesterday and today with no answer. It is possible that the overworked website staff at GFA haven’t been able to keep up and the other locations on GFA’s website will soon disappear.
Francis Chan’s video endorsement is now missing. His endorsement remains up here and here.
Actually, this was a result of sneaking the endorsement off the page.
Gospel for Asia Adds Board Members
According to a former staffer in a position to know, Gospel for Asia added Frances Chan (Crazy Love), David Mains (Chapel of the Air), and Damian Kyle (Calvary Chapel – Modesto) to their governing board.
The addition of these men makes GFA’s silence all the more troubling. It seems fair to call these men into accountability for the questions which GFA has refused to answer about their financial and other dealings.
These new members join founder and CEO K.P. Yohannan, his son Danny, his wife Gisela, Chuck Zink, Gayle Erwin, Robert Felder and Skip Heitzig as board members.
Francis Chan Joins Gospel for Asia Board Meeting Today; Is He Still Skeptical?
Last week, I publicly asked pastor Francis Chan for some answers regarding Gospel for Asia, a ministry he has endorsed. Today, I learned from a source at GFA that GFA’s board is meeting in Wills Point today with Francis Chan in attendance. It is not clear if Chan is there as a new board member, as has been rumored, or if he is there to be skeptical and ask questions. In any case, this heightens expectations that perhaps GFA leaders might break their silence.
If Chan does join the board, that might help to address concerns but not just by joining. The expectation is that he would use his position on the board to create a culture of transparency. If he doesn’t do that, the impatience of donors and the public will grow.
As a summary, here are some concerns for GFA.
- Why did GFA leaders prevail upon their own students to carry envelopes of undeclared U.S. cash to India in apparent violation of U.S. law. Thus far, GFA has not apologized for violating their own financial integrity guidelines or requiring students as young as 18 to engage in smurfing of large amounts of cash to India.
- GFA’s audit (conducted by Bland Garvey) failed to disclose three related NGOs which received funds from GFA’s American donors. Furthermore, between $30-50 million of money GFA said went to India in 2013 does not show up in reports submitted to the Indian government. Similar gaps show up in 2012 and other years.
- Why does GFA maintain a massive surplus of funds (around $150 million) being held in Indian banks, subject to major devaluation of the rupee.
- An ongoing concern has been the stories of around 100 former staff members who have unresolved problems with GFA. Current turnover in U.S. staff should be a red flag to any supporter. Reports are now that few students are returning to the School of Discipleship for a second year.
- GFA reps and the ECFA have never explained why GFA–India did not disclose to the Indian government the $15 million given to GFA–India by Canadian donors in 2013.
- Why did K.P. Yohannan claim he didn’t allow men being ordained in Believers’ Church to kiss his ring but a video shows the men kissing his ring during a ceremony.
While these are not the only problems, getting some information about them would be a good start.
Francis Chan: Can You Get Some Answers From Gospel for Asia?
Some time ago I emailed Francis Chan ab0ut his endorsement of Gospel for Asia. Chan says on the video below that he is skeptical and because of that he sent people to check GFA out. I was told by his assistant Chaz that he was getting my emails, but it was unlikely that I would get a personal response from Chan. And as Chaz predicted, I have not heard from Chan in response to concerns I raised in the emails and blog posts.
Watch Chan’s endorsement of GFA.
Rev. Chan, like you, I am skeptical, but unlike you, I don’t have a budget that allows me to send people to check GFA out. However, I have asked GFA multiple times for help understanding why their 2013 audited statement says they sent $58.5 million to GFA-India in 2013 but only $6.5 million shows up in GFA-India’s reports to the Indian government. I can account for another $22 million that GFA in the U.S. sent to Believers’ Church and two other NGOs controlled by K.P. Yohannan but that leaves about $30 million unaccounted for. It seems like a discrepancy like that would make a skeptical person wonder what happened to the $30 million.
If you or your auditors know anything about the unaccounted for $30 million, could you let me know? If there is a reasonable explanation for this, then it seems odd that GFA has allowed the situation to go on without public disclosure. The ECFA is no help either. All the silence makes a skeptical guy like me wonder what is happening. However, it seems like you might know something and perhaps could reassure donors and the public.
Also, there are some other matters which you could really help with:
- Why did GFA leaders prevail upon their own students to carry envelopes of undeclared U.S. cash to India in apparent violation of U.S. law. Thus far, GFA has not apologized for violating their own financial integrity guidelines or requiring students as young as 18 to engage in smurfing of large amounts of cash to India.
- GFA’s audit (conducted by Bland Garvey) failed to disclose three related NGOs which received funds from GFA’s American donors. Furthermore, between $30-50 million of money GFA said went to India in 2013 does not show up in reports submitted to the Indian government. Similar gaps show up in 2012 and other years.
- Why does GFA maintain a massive surplus of funds (around $150 million) being held in Indian banks, subject to major devaluation of the rupee.
- An ongoing concern has been the stories of around 100 former staff members who have unresolved problems with GFA. Current turnover in U.S. staff should be a red flag to any supporter. Reports are now that few students are returning to the School of Discipleship for a second year.
- GFA reps and the ECFA have never explained why GFA–India did not disclose to the Indian government the $15 million given to GFA–India by Canadian donors in 2013.
- Why did K.P. Yohannan claim he didn’t allow men being ordained in Believers’ Church to kiss his ring but a video shows the men kissing his ring during a ceremony.
Rev. Chan, many people trust you, and like you, I am skeptical and don’t believe it is wrong to ask questions. Perhaps, you know something about these matters and could persuade GFA to simply offer additional information and explanation. Or perhaps you, as an endorser, could write and clear things up. We aren’t the only ones who are skeptical, others too want to know what is happening at GFA.
I hope to hear from you.